Features: Games That Should Already Be on Virtual Console

The Wii was released over four years ago, and alongside it came Virtual Console. Over time, some of the greatest titles of the 80's and 90's have been made available for digital download, but we can't help but feel that there are still some significant titles inexplicably missing from the line-up. We've put together a list of 11 games (or groups of games) that we think should already be available. Nintendo, get on the case!

More Import Games

We've had our fair share of great import games already, but there's still a few that we think Nintendo could easily release outside Japan without having to worry too much about translation. Of course, we won't be seeing games like Super Famicom Wars, one of the predecessors of the Advance Wars series, or the old Fire Emblem titles, due to its heavy reliance on text.

One of the last Miyamoto titles the west has never seen.

It's strange, however, that we haven't received games like Nazo no Murasamejou for the Famicom Disk System, which Japan's Virtual Console already has. It has a whole game mode based on it in Samurai Warriors 3 for the Wii, which was still intact in the Western release, leading us to wonder why Nintendo didn't take advantage of that by releasing the game on VC to promote it as it has done with other games in the past.

Two more import Nintendo games we'd like to see are Wrecking Crew '98, the lesser-known sequel to Wrecking Crew, and Sutte Hakkun, both very unique SNES puzzle games. Wrecking Crew '98 includes its predecessor as a bonus, but if Nintendo's really that worried about losing sales over that, they could just edit it out. Sutte Hakkun has already been released on VC in Japan, so there's clearly no problems there.

Superior SNES Versions of NES Games

Let's be real here: we've had Wario's Woods for the NES since the service started, and Yoshi's Cookie turned up not too long after. Anybody who wanted the NES versions will have bought them by now, so why not release the much better SNES versions of the two?

Why get the NES version over this one?

Not only do they offer more modes, they've clearly got better graphics and sound. It would make sense if Nintendo was reluctant to release the NES games if it had released the SNES ones first, as they would be the cheaper option, but the 8-bit versions have probably reached the limit of sales they could possibly hope to get in these four years they've been available. Releasing the 16-bit versions would surely more money from people who deliberately waited as well as people who want to upgrade.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Master Quest

This Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time "expansion" was originally planned for the failed Nintendo 64DD, which was only released in Japan. However, despite what some people may think, the game never actually saw a release, and it wasn't until the GameCube that people would be able to play it as a bonus included with the first prints of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The only actual difference from Ocarina of Time was that dungeons had completely different puzzles and enemies, generally requiring you to go through the rooms in a totally different and often more difficult order.

These guys appear much earlier, among other changes.

So while this wouldn't actually be a Virtual Console title, as nobody got it until the GameCube, it'd be great to have it available anyway. Nintendo doesn't seem to be averse to releasing "unreleased" games, as it is heavily rumoured that the Virtual Console version of Sin and Punishment was in fact the half-finished translation of the game for the Nintendo 64 (a North American release was originally planned).

Another Nintendo 64DD game that would be great to have would be the F-Zero X Expansion Kit, which allowed players to create their own tracks and featured some new music for the existing tracks, although we don’t think this would work well due to the track creator requiring some minor Japanese knowledge.

Excitebike 64, Pilotwings 64 and Donkey Kong 64

The last N64 games Nintendo has left, other than Mario Party and Mario Party 3, of which the first is not likely due to certain issues with the notorious analogue stick rotation minigame.

With Excitebike on NES, Excitebike: World Rally, a Excite Truck and a ExciteBots all available on the Wii, it's a bit strange that the N64 instalment hasn't seen the light of day yet (Other than the easily removable emulated original), as it would mean that the entire franchise would be available on one console. This instalment pretty much captures the essence of the original in 3D perfectly: where is it?

Donkey Kong 64 is the tough case here, as it's another game faced by certain problems. Not only is Jetpac, a game owned by Rare, included as a bonus, it also comes with the arcade version of the original Donkey Kong, which Nintendo might think would cost it sales of the NES game. It's not as if both games can simply be cut either, as you have to play both of them to completion to beat the game. This also brings us to our next point.

Nintendo's Arcade Games

For the most part, Nintendo's been very good about showing an example of how to support its VC systems. But not for the Virtual Console Arcade, as it hasn’t released a single game for it. Initially, we thought it would be reluctant to do so as they'd cost the same price as NES games, but with Sega generally releasing its arcade games for 800 Wii Points instead of 500, why couldn't Nintendo just do the same?

How come this didn't get a single perfect port in 30 years?

It's quite shocking that Donkey Kong, the game that made Shigeru Miyamoto famous, has never been perfectly ported to any system in the 30 years it has existed – Donkey Kong 64's version came extremely close, but for some reason it starts at a higher speed than normal to make things more difficult.

Other great candidates would be the arcade versions of Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Jr., as well as the special "Vs." series, which were modified versions of NES games that allowed simultaneous 2-player versus play, rather than alternating, like Vs. Super Mario Bros. and Vs. Wrecking Crew.

Tetris Attack and EarthBound

Both of these games seem to have legal troubles associated with them preventing their release on Virtual Console, but as Nintendo has shown its willingness to edit things in other games every now and then there's no reason it couldn't just do it again.

While there is arguably no reason to have Tetris Attack on VC with Pokémon Puzzle League already available, but having the first Panel de Pon game released in the West once again would be most welcome. The Tetris Attack title never made any sense since the game has nothing to do with Tetris, so Nintendo could easily simply edit the game's title to "Yoshi's Puzzle League" or something similar, if that's really the only reason behind its absence.

Would it really be that hard to simply change this screen?

EarthBound is of course a much trickier case, with many theories saying that there are huge problems with the game's music, which is more than just "inspired" by some very popular songs of the past. This is perhaps one game we'll never see on the service: it says quite a lot that Japan had a demo of the game in Super Smash Bros. Brawl but still doesn't have the whole thing on Virtual Console; nor the first Mother game, for that matter.

Star Fox, Super Mario World 2 and Stunt Race FX

Other than the special cases above, these are pretty much the last SNES games developed by Nintendo and originally released worldwide we don't have yet. The only likely problem that's prevented their release so far is the fact they all used the Super FX chip in their original form, and Nintendo may be having problems emulating it. Still, these games, especially the first two, are some of the most highly requested VC games still out there, and Nintendo would be crazy not to release them.

Star Fox would be a good tie-in to Star Fox 64 3DS, and we hope Nintendo thinks the same. Although not officially part of the series anymore (Star Fox 64 supposedly tells the "true" story) many people still think this is the best game in the franchise, and the graphics were incredibly impressive for its time.

The original, and according to some, still the best.

Some people were disappointed that Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island had almost nothing to do with the first game, and although Nintendo doesn't even consider it part of the Mario platformer series, fans still frequently call it one of the best Mario games out there.

Stunt Race FX is a fairly standard racing game, but it's notable for being one of the only SNES games other than Star Fox to be 3D. In fact, it was even made by the same developers, so if we can have one title we can hopefully have both.

Blizzard's SNES Games

Blizzard’s main focus these days is World of Warcraft; it’s clearly not doing anything with its old franchises, like The Lost Vikings, Rock & Roll Racing and BlackThorne, so why not rerelease the SNES versions on Virtual Console? All three of them actually received ports to the Game Boy Advance in 2003, which also happens to be the last time any of them were released.

Still one of the best action puzzlers around. Not pictured: The rocking soundtrack.

The Lost Vikings features the lovable Erik, Olaf and Baleog as they bumble their way through time to various strange locations, in the quest to simply find their way back home. It's still completely unique for the fact you control three characters, one at a time, with each having their own special abilities which all need to be used together to make it home alive. It also saw a sequel which really just has more of the same.

BlackThorne is also an action platformer, but the puzzle element is much, much lighter and it's not really as fondly remembered as the Vikings, though it's still a pretty decent game. Rock 'n Roll Racing is the least likely to appear of the three, as a very entertaining isometric racer with just one big problem: it features actual licensed music by the likes of Black Sabbath and others.

The Remaining Enix Games

Many of us got our hopes up when one of the very first Virtual Console releases was ActRaiser, but since then we've only seen VC games from Enix's big brother Square, in the form of the Final Fantasy titles.

Without a doubt, one of the best SNES titles ever made.

But where's ActRaiser 2, the sequel that does away with the strategy element and features straight-up platforming exclusively? It may not nearly be as good, but it's still a fun game. There's also Robotrek and, naturally, the Dragon Quest/Warrior games, both very competent RPGs that rival Square's output.

Perhaps most requested, however, are Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma, three incredible, loosely related SNES games which all deal with serious stuff like death, slavery and religion.

It's great that Square seems to be releasing every single game it’s made on the service (Final Fantasy VI being one of the only ones left), but it's been about four years since the last Enix game, and we think it’s time Enix got another chance in the spotlight.

Peripheral Games

Of course you know what we're talking about: the NES Zapper, SNES Super Scope and SNES Mouse. Across the three, there's a large amount of awesome games like Yoshi's Safari, Mario Paint, Gumshoe, Mario & Wario (which would also be an import) and, of course, the famous Duck Hunt, none of which have received a Virtual Console release so far, most likely due to the work that would be required.

There is no excuse for this one.

Of course we can't deny that it would take some effort to make the games work, but we think every single one of these would work perfectly fine with the Wii Remote's pointer. Duck Hunt's a pretty simple game, but it's arguably one of the most well-known NES games out there – ask anyone to name a game for the system and it's likely Duck Hunt will be a frequently heard response, and plenty of people would buy it based on nostalgia alone.

On top of that, Zappers and Super Scopes don't work with many modern TVs, rendering the games unplayable for those that still have them, without somehow getting hold of an older TV. Modernising the titles with Wii Remote controls would be an all-round winner.

Third-Party Nintendo 64 Games

Arguably the most important entry on the list, it's crazy that we've only seen one single third-party game on the Nintendo 64 Virtual Console during its entire life. That was Ogre Battle, and it wasn't really that big of a surprise; although published by Square Enix on VC, it was originally published by Nintendo when released in Japan.

One of the best entries in a criminally mistreated franchise.

Other than it, however, we've seen nothing from other developers. Where's Konami, with the Goemon and Castlevania games? Capcom, with Mega Man 64, and many other smaller companies with their first forays into 3D?

Nintendo's getting close to running out of Nintendo 64 games itself, and since we're already not seeing them often to begin with (about three per year, at the current rate), what will happen once they are completely out of their own games to release? Will we just never see another N64 game on the service?

Although there are of course many more games we'd love to see on Virtual Console, we feel these represent some of the most important ones out there. How about you? Which games do you think the VC still absolutely needs?

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User Comments (155)

Ooh what a read Why aren't those games on yet? The Wii is getting kinda old lately, and with a rumored successor... guess they can just drag it out even more with the next console :/and let us not forget Chrono Trigger

This list managed to pin down every game I'm missing! Most importantly Excitebike 64, Pilotwings 64, and the imports. Of course I'd love to see the Peripheral games and Super FX games as well, but I understand if they are a problem to emulate successfully. Then there are the arcade games. Seriously Nintendo, you added a level to the NES DK in the limited edition Red Wii, If your willing to go so far, emulation the arcade games should be no problem!

Great article. I would also love to see "Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire", "Star Wars: Rogue Squadron" and "Star Wars Episode 1 Pod Racer" from the N64 along with "Caslevania: Bloodlines" and "Contra: Hard Corps" for the Genesis and Ninja Gaiden and Zillion 1 & 2 and Psych Fox from Sega Master System. I forgot about Cyber Shinobi

I hope 3DS VC gives Nintendo (and long-absent 3rd parties like Konami) incentive to try harder with Wii VC. Because this article pointing out everything that's been missed thus far is proof that they've hardly made a finger lift's effort on VC in some time. So many stupid excuses. I don't want excuses and VC-less weeks. I want GAMES! Thank you, Marcel, for this article.

Oh, thinking about it I REALLY wish they'd release Wrecking Crew '98. Original is one of my fav NES games! And Mystical Ninja 64... "PUULLLAAAASSSSIIIIIMMMMAAAA"!!!!

@lz20XXIt's mind-blowing that there've been no Dragon Quest/Warrior games on VC. Yeah, they release the NES games that came out here, they have to call it "Dragon Warrior" because of the whole "no/limited changes to VC games" deal. But, Squeenix didn't have a problem with releasing Final Fantasy IV as "Final Fantasy II" on VC in America!

This list would require Nintendo to put effort into the Virtual Console service.

Yep. They don't really do that although there have been exceptions. As for why there are few N64 games, I am sure it has to do with the memory pak - its not been supported so far and the games listed NEED it to save progress.

No Yoshi's Island puzzles me. I think Duck Hunt, Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong 64 would be awesome to have on the Wii, even though I still have DK64. I've never played Star Fox or Earthbound, and it's starting to look like my only way of getting Earthbound is by going to a retro store and buying it at a ridiculous price. At least with Star Fox it would be reasonably cheaper.

The Lost Vikings was a game I've been waiting to play since before it was ever released. I remember reading previews of it for the Mega Drive and thinking how amazing it looked. One I would add to the list is Micro Machines for Mega Drive/SNES.

Obviously a head up for Warriors of Fate on VC Arcade!

As for Master System/Game Gear games, how about these (some licensing issues, I know):Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald DuckSuper Monaco GP (& II)Lemmings (how great would that be with the Wii pointer?)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Bullet-Proof/Blue Planet Software kept the copyright to the program code of SNES Yoshi's Cookie. So, it's now most likely the property of The Tetris Company, so Nintendo would have to license it back.It started out as a different game called Hermetica, Nintendo bought the NES copyrights and turned it into Yoshi's Cookie.That is the story according to an early 1993 Nintendo Power.I can't explain Wario's Woods. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact the SNES version was never released in Japan. (though they did get a Satellaview version)

Also, I read a story on 1-Up a month or two ago suggesting that Nintendo had actually outsourced the programming of the arcade version of Donkey Kong to a third party (ironically to the same company Sega outsourced to program DK/Frogger ripoff Congo Bongo) and it led to some legal trouble in the '80s as Nintendo was accused of making illegal use of their code during the development of early Famicom games.

Very good article. The two games, that I want the most, are Zelda Master Quest and Terranigma. Master Quest on the GameCube was just an emulated N64 game, similar to Ocarina of Time on the same disc, so it would be indeed a candidate for the Virtual Console, though it was originally never released on the N64. And Terranigma is just awesome.

Strider - Genesis (or preferably Arcade) - It defined the 16-bit eraRygar - NES - b/c I loved itContra - NES - b/c it was one of the biggest games on the NES and really in the history of gamingDungeon Explorer II - TG-SCD - With Hudson gone this will never happen, and you'll never play this rare 5-player game that sells for upwards of $100 on eBay

...but as to the why, it's really clear:Sales + Piracy. So many people 'have' all these games already b/c they are thieves who feel entitled to games they didn't purchase....and beyond them I would guess there are just not enough sales to justify everything going to VC.

There's a HUGE reserve of untapped C64 games out there BEGGING for a VC release. I came to consoles somewhat late in life(my first console, as opposed to a 'computer' was a PSOne) and so a lot of old console games don't have that nostalgia element so important in seeing past some of the more outdated aspects of play, but c64 games? Now we're talking.

The C64 version of Turrican(arguably THE definitive version), CREATURES, Infiltaror, Elite, Mercenary, Speedball 2.....I could go on for hours here..

This is one of the best articles I've ever read. I can think of other games that deserve to be released on the VC, such as the Mega Man X SNES trilogy, Mega Man Soccer,the Super Bomberman games (all of them, including Panic Bomber W!), the old Dragon Warrior games, to name a few. Also, I agree that the SNES versions of Yoshi's Cookie and Wario's Woods ARE superior! It all boils down to one thing: Nintendo got shortsighted about the VC and it is paying for it and we're rightfully screaming for more! Less WiiWare & DSiWare! More Retro!

As much as I'd like to see Panel De Pon (with it's original characters) and the SNES version of Yoshi's Cookie on the Virtual Console, I'd much rather have online WiiWare versions of both games. They could easily be made mostly using data from Nintendo Puzzle Collection. All Nintendo would have to do then is add Wii-remote controls, translate some text, and do whatever they need to do to make the game playable online.As for imports, hell yeah! Untapped resources! I've played Monster World IV and thought it was pretty cool. I also wish they'd translate the rest of the SNES/SF Goemon games and release them outside Japan, if not on the Virtual Console then at least on a collection disc. How much work could it take to translate games like that if people do it in their spare time?

I'd love to see Earthbound and Donkey Kong 64 make appearances, but I'd also love to see lesser known games like some Data East gems (I know there's a collection but those are the arcade versions only).

Mother and Earthbound are at the top of my list. It would also be great if the n64 got more third party support along with DK64 and some other rare games but I know rare games will never be released on vc apart from maybe DK64. it's sad to see the vc in a state where we often have weeks with nothing and many of the releases that we are getting are average at best. I also think that we should see more imports and that companies should translate them. Fans do it in their spare time so why can't actual game companies.

To be honest, I don't think we're going to be seeing any more Commodore 64 games. There haven't been any since the Last Ninja 3 debacle even though four of them were rated before then, so they must've given up or something.

Sega's also not showing much effort anymore either, I would expect some more arcade games from them, but they seem to be trying to throw all their Mega Drive/Genesis games on Steam (There's already a few on there not on VC).

i bought a few VC games. But only the ones that can still be fun vs. todays technology. (mario games, OoT in particular) but i want to focus on whats to come, not whats been here and left. Not to say that these weren't/aren't great games, but it's like buying a typewriter because you need a new keyboard. Why not buy something new? Anyone with me on this?

I can't accept that Nintendo can't emulate the Super FX Chip when unofficial emulators have no problem running games like Yoshi's Island and Starfox. They need to stop being so lazy when it comes to the VC! I also agree that we need to see more third-party N64 games, starting with Goemon of course!

Those are all very good games that should be on the vc,vca here are some of mine I want. Sonic CD(JP), Knuckles Chaotix, Pacman vca, Yoshi Island,Pacjam vca, and Paper Boy? I had a dream that Nintendo made a rumble park for the classic controller.

I still want to see Mario Party 1/3, DK64, SMW2 and maybe OOT: MQ. Funny how you should mention Master Quest, I'm playing through it with my GCN disc now. I finally got out of Dodongo's Cavern after being stuck there for a year and just made it to the Forest Temple

They need to have some stuff available for when the follow-up to the Wii gets here, I'd assume.

Also, I'd love to see the Mario Kart Arcade GP games. The camera thingies obviously wouldn't work but they can replace the features that captures the faces of the players with the character faces I'd say.

Which games I think should be put on the VC?Well, there's Mega Man 5,6,7,&B,X,X2 and X3, then there's Adventure Island 2,3,4,Super and Super2, and let's not forget about cult classics such as The Guardian Legend.

how about simpsons arcaderobocop arcadepro wrestlingpopeye arcademickey mouse and the castle of illusion duck huntmoonwalker arcadekung fu master arcadepaperboy arcadearkanoid arcadealiens arcadei know there are alot more games id like to see but those r some nintendo should release

Great article here and I would pay extra to see all (Or any at this point) on the Virtual Console.

But am I the only one who's getting the feeling that Nintendo will likely not release any of these games listed on the Virtual Console this generation? Probably just me and myself being pessimistic about the Virtual Console this generation, but I've pretty much loss all hope for the Wii's Virtual Console gaining any more grounds.

What's especially disappointing is that Nintendo seems to absolutely not care about fixing any possible issues with the game, which results in the game either not being released or being edited to the point where it bothers me too much to support it on the Virtual Console (I still stand by The Returns of the Shinobi edits being too much for me to buy it). IMO, putting forth effort to support the service includes trying to bring forth games that people want to play, not just games that can be released without issues, regardless of quality.

The sad state of the Virtual Console is why I am in favor of a total reboot next generation (It's not like we can expect all the games on VC right now to be there next generation). Nintendo needs the hardware to support all Dreamcast/Gamecube games and in between, try to balance out the releases so it doesn't stagnate like this (Two games a week sounds good enough to me), get third-party more involved to support the Virtual Console, and this time, try to at least solve licensing/legal issues for highly requested games like Earthbound and the TMNT series.

Where are all of those games indeed. Even though I still have Earthbound since I was 4 (played through the whole game about 5 or 6 times) I'd still purchase it for support and the love I have for the game. Even though I have it on my homebrew channel too, it just doesn't feel right. And if Wario's Woods (another title I own proudly), please incorporate an online mode just as Sega will be doing for their Puyo-Pop game.

@LimeLight - I fully expect all the VC games available now to still be there when the next Nintendo console comes out. I bet Nintendo made agreements to retain the rights to distribute the games even if the company goes under (Factor 5 games are still available for download).

There are some decent Turbografx games still missing: namely, Legendary Ax, a superb hack-n-slash title. Keith Courage was a pack-in game at one time. It is not a great game, but still holds nostalgic value for those who picked up a TG16.

More Commodore 64 games? Will they ever bring MSX games (original Metal Gear, for example)? Heck why couldn't we get Atari systems on there?

Demon's Crest is another one.I'd also love to see more Turbo Grafx 16 games, though with the recent Hudson news, those days are sadly over.Also, the Megaman X series. Even though I have the collection. Particularly X3 with the SNES music.

You pretty much covered everything I would've of mentioned except for Jet Force Gemini, never got around to beating that game...Maybe there's a small chance that it could pop uo on the VC sometime...but I doubt it sadly. (stupid Microsoft...>_>)

I would like to see(from the above):Donkey Kong 64, Earthbound, Nazo no Murasamejou, F-Zero X w/ Expansion, and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. I'm already getting Excitebike 64 in cartridge form in the mail this week.

I think they are holding some of these games back for a reason, and they know the fans want them.Probly so there is something new when the 3DS VC is opened and possibly even for the Wii 2 down the road?If they threw everything worth downloading on there at once, there would nothing to look forward to.At least we can still hope these other classics will see the light of day again, it's like they are teasing us.I wish I could play Demons Crest again...that would be so great.Also, perhaps Star Fox 2 for the SNES could be released, it was a finished game that just never got an official release.

Would love to see Bruce Lee and the Archon games from the Comadore 64. I would definately buy any of the peripheral games that were mentioned; loved the light gun games and Mario paint my friends and I used for years, too much fun.

Dr. Mario 64 would be the title I want to see most. As my favorite game of all time, it the one responsible for my purchase of every Nintendo system I had/have... which is also why I skipped the GameCube... no version of the Doctor for it. The GBA version is still my favorite version but having the N64 version on the Wii would be great!

I am 100% sure that the vc catalogue will be fully available for future consoles - at least vc downloads will have to be enabled to be transferred once, like they plan with the dsiware onto the 3ds - so i can't see any reason, why no more games are coming out now. If you can download vc titles to either wii or "wii 2", then where is the (selling-)point...

I just have to point out, the Super FX chip is NOT difficult to emulate. Nintendo may be lazy and their current SNES emulator doesn't use it, but they're certainly not going to have any trouble emulating it.

I can play Starwing/fox on my nearly 4 year old phone, which was no doubt emulated by a kid in his bedroom. Prior to that, I've been able to play an emulated version on my PC for more than a decade. If kids can get it running on old hardware in their bedrooms, I'm pretty sure Nintendo themselves, with all their knowledge of the game, their access to the original game and hardware documents, their skilled programmers, some of the original programmers and their hardware designers can get it working on the bloody Wii!

I just wish all the arcadey action platformers for NES or SNES. And all the robot games. The fact that LucasArts' got on board briefly and gave us the Super Star Wars trilogy, both Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Indy's Greatest Hits was amazing. But man - I'd trade 'em all if they just released Metal Warriors. I feel robbed. But I don't blame them; cuz it's Nintendo's fault. If Nintendo supported the VC better, and advertised it, and could get higher sales for these publishers, than Lucasarts (and others) would've jumped through the hoops necessary to get more of their games on the service.

And if I got Irem's Metal Storm for NES. And Power Blazer or Shatterhand. All the Rocket Knight games. All the Genesis/NES/SNES Disney games. Strider for SNES.....what was it called....Run Saber! There are just so many amazing 16 bit games that have been left to die. At least for this generation. I honestly think that Nintendo doesn't care right now, and the VC will remain mostly dead until their next system.

Oh well, lord knows I should try and finish some of the games I've downloaded before complaining anymore. I DO like a lot of the stuff already on there, to be fair. The N64 support absolutely BLOWS though.

Oh, and does ANYONE else remember Secret of Evermore? Apparently, it's the only RPG Square ever developed in a U.S. Studio. I skipped it by back in the day - I pretty much skipped over all RPGs - but I'm EXTREMELY interested in it now. I hear a lot of people hate it because they blame it's existence for us not getting Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3?) localized, but really, the two had nothing to do with each other. Square just produced a game they thought would appeal more to Americans, and as a result, it seems to have some natural sounding dialogue and callbacks to US Pop culture from the 90's. It also looks like Chrono Trigger. I would LOVE to see Square-Enix drop that on the VC someday.

Nintendo wants to abandon their VC service because they think the WiiWare service is more profitable to them. In reality, the VC games are way better than most of the [CENSORED] WiiWare shovelware. I hope with the 3DS Nintendo changes their failed strategy.

I would like to see Yoshi's Island and Star Fox on the VC, and the FX chip emulation excuse is not valid. If Yoshi's Island and Star Fox can be emulated by people who are into homebrew, Nintendo should have no problems emulating those games on the Wii.

This was a really great list. Personally, I think there are two reasons for the slow releases:1) Pissed off 3rd parties that don't care anymore, because Nintendo had been treating them like crap when they tried to release games at the beginning of the Wii's lifespan.

2) They want to be continually releasing games into the foreseeable future, so they're spacing out games as much as possible. Unlike Steam or PSN, retro games have their own service on the Wii. It doesn't matter so much if Steam/PSN/XBLA exhaust all their options for retro games in a couple months, they have new games to keep people coming back and surfing through their library. Ninty always needs to release retro games regularly so people will continue to check the VC shop occasionally.

I would LOVE to see MQ on the VC, since I'm assuming my GCN disk won't work on the Wii2. However, as it was a collector's bonus, and not originally on the N64, I doubt we'll see it. I wouldn't be surprised if it was available on the 3DS game (but I want to play it on my TV! /whines).

As for Super FX games, that would make sense if they're holding Star Fox to promote the 3DS game. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if they've been holding out on SMW2, because there was a DS version available (see Chrono Trigger). I think both of those games are out of print now, so once the 3DS drops, there's really no reason for Ninty not to release it. It'll just be a matter of what milestone they want to release it on.

The problem with N64 games is controller pak required = out. It's so stupid (unofficial emulators have been handling it for years, along with the FX chip), but Ninty is lazy, and as this list prove, there's still plenty out there that's just a simple rom-dump away from the WiiShop.

Great article, and what great comments! The Virtual Console could and should be continually updated, and amazing concept , but as noted above, so many classics are missed. My Top 3 wishes:3) OutRun (Arcade). Often copied, never replicated. 2) Metal Gear (MSX) for North America. For years, we hear about how much better MG was on the MSX, and there it is sitting on the VC game list, but only available in Japan. 1) Punch-Out (Arcade Version). I have every released Punch-Out title and all are great in their own ways. But none match hearing, "Left, left, body blow, body blow, put him away!!"

Not understanding why remakes help prevent a Virtual Console release. Final Fantasy IV was released on the Virtual Console and it had a remake in 2008 and Kirby Super Star DS remake was released the same year. It also received a Virtual Console release. I don't think remakes plays a factor in the game not coming to the Virtual Console.

@brooks83: I hope you're right on that, but I'm not holding my breath for that to occur considering the recent state of the Virtual Console.

Lost Vikings isn't that unique. Head Over Heels did the same idea earlier, as, arguably, did Maniac Mansion. Still a good game though.

Aside from Yoshi's Island, the games I want to see most are for the Commodore 64 -- Turrican, Creatures and Creatures 2, the aforementioned Head Over Heels and Maniac Mansion -- but I suspect that ship has sailed.

And there must be a way to get some version of Sensible Soccer out, as it was released on at least three of the VC's systems.

It is sad that so many great games haven't been released yet.I wouldn't really bash the VC for it though, because I think it is one of the best ideas in the gaming history IMHO, and it still managed to deliver a great number of awesome games.

This is such an epically dope feature Marcel, nice! I love the VC but this details the dream platform it could been, a place for the games non-Japanese consumers have been clamoring to play for decades. Nazo no Murasamejou now!

Here we are nearly five years later and all I can say is WTF, Nintendo?

I was so stoked when the Virtual Console was announced and for the first three years or so, it was everything I expected it to be. I just don't understand what happened and with so many great games just seemingly being ignored for release and very mediocre games filling the VERY sparce schedule currently, we retro game enthusiasts are at a loss. This was suppose to be Nintendo's iTunes, only for games!

The sad thing is, I still hold hope that it'll reach that level someday, even with the very little evidence indicating such. It's very possible that Nintendo has just been busy trying to streamline the service, as to prepare for the newer systems coming out, which would make sense as that may not have been something they had in mind in the beginning.

Whatever the case, as it stands, the Virtual Console is the best legal option for retro gaming out there right now, but it's only a fraction of what it should be.

When this article came about two days ago, it made me a bit sad (after I saw some users' comments regarding whether or not these games would ever come to the VC). I'm over it now.

The Lost Vikings is one of the best games ever made, imo.Action/Platforming + Puzzle Elements + Challenge + Humorous Dialogue = Classic! I'm sure hoping it gets released on the Virtual Console someday.

As for the other Quintet/Enix titles: I think it's about time Square-Enix started releasing them, pronto!!

RocketKnight Adventures is a game that I've long been interested in. That, and its two follow-ups (both the MegaDrive and SNES ones). I never experienced those games before, but I heard great things about them.

The Virtual Console is one of the best ideas this generation and probably the most disapointing in its execution. It started off okay with Nintendo releasing games weekly to help support sporadic Wii retail releases. However, releases quickly went from classic games everyone wanted and were obviously going to see release (i.e. Super Mario Bros, LoZ, Metroid, etc) to games ranging from obscure to "horrible even as a kid."

Still, Nintendo threw us bones every so often; expanding the service to cover Commodore 64, TurboGrafx 16, and Arcade games were all great news when they were announced but few every really panned out. On top of that, its been disappointing how Nintendo is unwilling to modify the games at all to preserve even the features that were available in the original game. No memory pack support for Mario Kart 64 and no rumble support for Star Fox 64. Still, for some reason they added a feature to Pokemon Snap that saves your photos as image files on your sd card so its clear that its not that Nintendo can't fix these problems, they're choosing not to.

I've long since stopped writing up lists of all the great classic games that I'd love to see rereleased since I doubt very few of them ever will. Only two/three games really remain in mind and those are Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness, my favorite games in the Castlevania series and Castlevania: Bloodlines, a game I've owned for years but never played because I never owned a Genesis. I honestly don't understand why Bloodlines hasn't been released since the Sega Genesis is one of the more prolific consoles on the service and most of the classic Castlevania series is already available. 64/Legacy of Darkness I can see a major problem with since it requires a memory card to save your progress. However, the Japanese version of Legacy of Darkness allowed you to save your game on the cart itself, in addition to supporting the rumble pack. Perhaps the Japanese text/assets could be replaced with the english ones but we haven't really seen that much effort put into a Virtual Console release and I doubt a now-reviled N64 game would command that much work to be re released.

Man, the Virtual Console was so promising at first. Not to say it was a total failure as we did get Rondo of Blood and Sin & Punishment, probably my two most wanted titles for the system but after four years it definitely leaves much to be desired. I hope that the 3DS' Virtual Console will help spur work on the Wii's Virtual Console but Nintendo isn't known for giving people what they want, they try to give you what you don't know you want, which is also nice, but in this case, I do wish they'd just do the obvious thing.

I have contacted Commodore Gaming numerous times in the past year. They simply do not reply to emails about the VC service anymore and their own VC portion of their website hasn't been updated to even reflect the most recent releases.Nintendo claim that there will still be C64 games in the future but I don't believe there will be. If you look at how long it took us to get Last Ninja 3's problem recognised (having to report Nintendo to Trading Standards) it gives an insight into how many people probably downloaded the game that so few even noticed it was broken (and we are talking about the VC C64's best game here).Commodore Gaming is now selling C64 titles for iphone at a fraction of the price that Nitnendo's restrictive VC service allowed them to do. They probably no longer see the point in supporting the service for such miniscule profits.

This is why I gave up on the vc two years ago. I'm sick of this one crappy game trickling out every other week crap. Once a year we get something like Ufouria or Bio Miracle Bokkute Upa, and I like access to games on other systems I don't own, but it's literally faster to just load up the original system anyway without having to wait for the SD card to load. I've been collecting the originals without the defunct company red tape BS and having to wait for a game to release that's already been released 20 years ago!

If anyone hasn't realized yet why DK64 hasn't been released on the virtual console, it is because the virtual console only supports stable screensavers. DK64 had multiple screensavers and for that reason Nintendo can't find a way to put a stable screen indicating the game and it's contents. This is my theory.

MARIO PARTY 1 & 3 is what we need and YES donkey kong 64 would be good to. Is the snes versions of yoshis cookie and wario woods really that great i mean it looks pretty bad on nes im sure its not that much better on snes however in saying that i have never actually played the games my opinion is just based on pictures and information on the wii shop channel.

The lack of the Mother trilogy (including Earthbound) on VC is a shame. I really think Nintendo could generate quite a following if they released the series in its entirety stateside.

Mother 1 was never released in the U.S., although apparently was fully localized. Therefore, assuming this is true, getting Mother 1 on VC should not be a lot harder than any other NES game. Mother 2 (Earthbound) apparently has a number of potential copywrite issues. However, it should be noted that Earthbound was re-released in Japan on GBA in 2003. I am not sure what has happened since 2003 that is not stopping its release. Mother 3 is obviously the most difficult. There are no GBA games on VC and this game has not been officially translated.

However, if Nintendo made it happen, there are thousands of people that would pay premium prices for these titles. I think the even more significant benefit would be the appreciation that Nintendo received from releasing these titles and the potential customer loyalty that this could create.

Obviously I don't understand all of the nuances. But, damn, Nintendo, make it happen!

Oh yeah, how could I forget Contra Hard Corps...there are way less popular games that have gotten released on VC...this is one that did well originally and is still in high demand now...what does it take for a game to get released on VC!!!

Another question- why can't they port the Satellaview games over here??Those are 1st party titles and would add more to the lineup.Seriously Nintendo has snubbed the Disk System and Satellaview for far too long! Both peripherals were even made mascots. Diskun was thankfully represented in the beautifully retro Super Smash Bros Melee but Parabo and Satebo are all but forgotten!!

I think the problem for lack of third party games is licensing or Nintendo just doesn't see enough profit so why bother putting up the most requested titles? I think they are likely to move on to Virtual Console on 3DS and support that instead and leave the VC on Wii alone until the end of this year. It would be nice to see third party games other than those on the VC like from Konami like the rest of the TMNT games from NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis. Heck even Mega Man 4,5,6 and the X series from Capcom.

@#4: it would be awesome to get Turtles 2 and 3 from the NES and Turtles in Time for the SNES (and on that note, the Genesis version.) But Ubisoft (correct me if I'm wrong) is the one who owns the Turtles license. It's up to them if they want them to be released and they may cost than they usually do since the first NES Turtles game was released on the VC for $6 instead of the normal $5.

"It's quite shocking that Donkey Kong, the game that made Shigeru Miyamoto famous, has never been perfectly ported to any system in the 30 years it has existed – Donkey Kong 64's version came extremely close, but for some reason it starts at a higher speed than normal to make things more difficult."

Just thought I'd mention that Donkey Kong recieved 2 very good conversions back in the day by Arcana Software... to the C64 and Amstrad CPC, both include all the levels and play damn near arcade perfect